(Roughly) Daily

… and, as Bartosz Ciechanowski explains in a stunningly-illustrated essay, so much more. The moon affects our tides, our light, and even the Earth’s rotation– it’s no wonder that our constant companion has so haunted human culture…

… The Moon may be just an unassuming neighbor in the sky, but its presence affects our lives in many subtle ways. When it reflects sunlight off its scarred surface to guide the way in the darkness of night, or as it breathes life into oceans by rhythmically raising tides, or when it cloaks the Sun in a rare and awe-inspiring total solar eclipse, the Moon reminds us of the celestial world right outside of the safe confines of our planet.

Traveling through the cold and empty space by Earth’s side, the Moon is always just there. It may be barren and dull, but, undeterred by its own lifelessness, it never leaves us completely alone.

Perhaps the next time you catch a glimpse of the Moon’s shiny surface beaming in the night sky, you’ll see it a little differently – not as a mundane fixture of the heavens, but as a fellow companion that gently affects our own existence…

Absolutely fascinating– and beautiful: “Moon,” from @bciechanowski.bsky.social. Via @TheBrowser.

This is (R)D‘s second visit with Ciechanowski, who earlier helped us understand “Sound”; for more of his extraordinary work, visit his archive.

More on the moon and here.

* Carl Sandburg

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As we raise our eyes, we might send celestial birthday greetings to William Wilson Morgan; he was born on this date in 1906. As astronomer and astrophysicist, he was professor and astronomy director for the University of Chicago’s Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin and managing editor of Astrophysical Journal. He was a leader in stellar and galaxy classification and helped prove the existence of spiral arms in our galaxy.

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